


Masked World

by Silvex



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms, Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Series, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Dimension Travel, F/M, dark knight!Ken, monk!Akihiko, ninja!Yosuke, performer!Rise, summoner!Minako, white mage!Yosuke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 10:03:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8886724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvex/pseuds/Silvex
Summary: So, it turns out that killing a deity has repercussions on spacetime. Given the option to escape with their lives, the Warriors of Light find themselves rather far out of their comfort zones. And that's before the new Asterisk Bearers and Persona Users start showing up. A giant death-tower, another scheming fairy, and people placing bets on whether or not- or when, cough, cough, Tiz and Agnès- people will finally start dating.They're in it for the long haul, now.





	1. Chapter 1

They had done it. A shepherd, a vestal, an amnesiac dark knight, and a templar’s daughter had, through their efforts, and those of countless worlds, felled a god. It was almost too amazing to be true, even as Ouroboros died, he still couldn’t believe it.

_ (I can’t believe it… we actually managed it.) _ His thoughts were jumbled, disorderly.

_ (Did you ever doubt?) _ The voice he heard, inaudible to anyone else, was teasing, but congratulatory all the same.  _ (I always knew you could save my world. If anyone could, it was you, Tiz.) _ He nodded, knowing she could tell.

The Asterisks he had equipped, Monk and Vampire, shone for a moment, creating a barrier like the ones he had seen before. From his friends, from the bags, there were many similar points of light. The area around them was deathly still, although he could see movement beyond, constant tumult.

“What’s going on?”

“I haven’t actively formed an Asterisk Barrier before, but isn’t it supposed to be voluntary?”

“Don’t look at me. I had nothing to do with this.”

_ (This is bad,) _ The voice decided, trembling a bit.  _ (I may have to use some of my power for this. Thank goodness the Asterisks have that failsafe. Tiz, this may be uncomfortable, but I have to ask you a favor, if only for your sakes.) _ Everything shifted again, and he looked up, except it wasn’t him.

“I have a plan.” The voice was his, but the accent was very noticeably different. The others seemed to have noticed it, but she continued on, brushing off the confused glances. “There’s not much time to explain. It turns out that killing a deity of any kind has repercussions on spacetime. Go figure, right?” She forced out a laugh, shaking her head.

Edea was suspicious. “Tiz? What’s happened?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Her reply was instantaneous, and Tiz wondered if she had been preparing for this. “But to answer your question, I’m not Tiz. Not entirely, anyway. I act as his life force, but…” She shook her head. “I’m what you call a celestial, from the world Ouroboros was trying to reach. I can keep the distortions from destroying you, but… you might not return to Luxendarc. And with the way things are distorting… the distortion, even within this Asterisk Barrier, could have adverse effects on your aging, speeding it up, or possibly stopping it entirely, if I manipulate it any further. But you can get to a safe place, even if it isn’t a world you know.”

“You’re just offering us this?” Edea’s voice was steady, but the distrust was very much there. “How do we know we can trust you? That you are who you say you are?”

“You don’t. But, well, life or death, Edea? At least I’m telling you the risks. Speaking of, I don’t know how this will affect the Asterisks. This barrier that protects everyone is their doing, so we may as well try to bring them, but depending on where you end up, whatever happens to them may be rather… conspicuous. Come to that, so will your weapons. We can deal with that, and any passengers, when the time comes.” She breathed out, calmly. “I am Polaris, the guiding light. I’ll bring my warriors to safety.” The barrier around them fluctuated, and everything was white for a moment.

Light shone in the Asterisks, before shooting away. The last thing Tiz was conscious of was a green sky, before he blacked out.

_ (Polaris, define ‘uncomfortable’.) _

* * *

 

They hadn’t thought to keep track of the lights, to notice that, due to fluctuations of time and space, the Asterisks had multiplied and spread out. Fools, Anne decided, clutching two of them to herself, struggling to fly away. Ninja and White Mage. Maybe she could find someone to hand them off to, who would help her return to Luxendarc and spread chaos there.

That was a pretty big maybe, however. What looked like streets were deserted, and while she approved of the pooling blood, the coffins were a bit much. She preferred her misery to be somewhat more subtle than that.

She couldn’t help her master from here, and couldn’t find anyone. She decided to wait for the night to pass. At least, during her wait, she could figure out how to hide the stones. She didn’t want them going to someone who might not play nice with her, after all. That wouldn’t be good at all.

But first, rest. Rest, then allies, and then, Luxendarc.

There are several things one could say about fairies, but they certainly did seem to have a decent sense of priorities.

* * *

 

Tiz was unconscious, but the other three were still relatively fine, if somewhat injured and exhausted. Agnès could appreciate the fact that they had, at least, survived whatever had happened back there.

Still, that was fixable. She had enough energy left for white magic, and the sooner they were in top condition, the better. They seemed to be in a city, but she didn’t recognize any of the structures. The being that had controlled Tiz did say that they might not end up in Luxendarc.

But, if it wasn’t Luxendarc, where were they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I suppose I should explain the celestial's name. As all other celestials have been named after stars, I figured that the player would be no different, and as you act as a guide, Polaris seemed quite fitting. She'll be important later.  
> Also, the Asterisks copied themselves because magical objects, spacetime fluctuation, you get weird things. At least they didn't explode, that could have happened. And Anne is along for the ride, somewhat, because she was spying on the party. This is why you don't spy on adventuring parties, people.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group is found by Kirijo Mitsuru, and they manage to work out a sort of agreement, despite glaring issues in communication. Akihiko has a new outfit.  
> Meanwhile, Anne has her own thing to deal with.

Kirijo Mitsuru wondered what, exactly, she had done to deserve this. The Dark Hour was bad enough. The lack of sane allies was taking its toll on her. And that was before the glowing orange stone had hit Akihiko on the head.

Seemingly magic rocks were fine. What wasn’t fine was the outfit that had appeared, and that he refused to change.

“Please promise that, when Dark Hour ends, you will put on something… dignified?” When he had a weakness to ice, and things would return to normal in forty-five minutes, going without a shirt wasn’t practical. Not that he’d ever let anyone tell him that.

For a moment, she considered dismissing Penthesilea and leaving, but realized how bad of an idea that would be. More than that, there was something at the edge of her senses, something strong, but didn’t necessarily line up as a Shadow or a Persona.

It couldn’t hurt to see what it was. Well, technically, it could, but they’d have forty-four minutes to get to safety by then, so it wasn’t the biggest concern.

* * *

  


In hindsight, letting Agnès lead was probably not the best idea. The last time she had led, she had somehow defied all logic and ended up on the wrong continent, when they didn’t remember crossing any water. She wasn’t allowed to go off alone with the Time Mage Asterisk anymore. Odds were, she would have vanished from the face of Luxendarc…

Edea promptly discarded the notion. Besides the fact that they were already lost somewhere in space and time, the most that they could do with the available power was likely teleportation. At least, if one ignored the random blood, it seemed like this place had decent shelter available. Plenty of it, so she could kick Ringabel out without feeling too guilty if he crossed the line, which was located someplace that only she knew, and was unable- rather, unwilling- to tell anyone about.

Still, this place did look ominous. Coffins everywhere, far too much pooling blood, and a feeling of being distinctly unwelcome. She was tempted to get out her katana and cast Holy on it, but realized that, as she had no clue where she was going, it was probably a bad idea when they had a perfectly good light source already.

They had put away the Asterisks that they had set as their mains because none of the outfits that came with those Jobs were practical at the moment. There didn’t seem to be any enemies about, and with the state that they were in, running would have been a better idea, anyway. Not many job outfits were suitable for running in.

She almost did activate her Sword Magic, however, when she heard something. Voices, not speaking in a way she recognized, but undeniably human, or at least intelligent.

From where Ringabel was carrying him, Tiz began to stir. At least something was going right.

* * *

  


Mitsuru had never observed a sorrier looking bunch than the four in front of her. They were discussing something in a language that sounded similar to what little she knew of English, but wasn’t quite the same.

“Who are these people?” She found herself asking out loud. There was a pause as the four registered her and Akihiko’s presence.

One of them, a boy with messy brown hair, turned to face them.“Sorry… you… had to… see… us like… this.” He stumbled over his words, pausing in an effort to string them together. “We are… not from here.” His accent, also, was different from anything she had ever heard.

At times, Kirijo Mitsuru wished she hadn’t swapped her English for French. It wasn’t quite the language she needed, but she might have been able to work with it. Still, at least this boy seemed to speak Japanese, broken as it was. From the looks he was getting, she surmised that his friends must not have the same skill.

“Are you lost?” She asked. Of all the possible questions, it seemed to be the one that she both had to ask, and that the boy could understand. He nodded.

“We are not from here.” He gestured around at everything. “Not from... this place. From… another place. We are not… here by… choice.” Was he talking about the Dark Hour, or something else? He turned to face Akihiko, face impassive. He said something in his language, and from how his friends reacted, something must have spooked him.

“We… need… help. A place… to rest. Please.” Now, she was placed with a moral dilemma. He had thrown himself upon her mercy, and she had to decide whether to give foreigners enough to piece together the darkness that once hid in the Kirijo Group, or to leave four lost people when the Dark Hour wasn’t even halfway over yet. Mercy won.

“You may come with us. I am Kirijo Mitsuru, and that is Sanada Akihiko. Can you give me your names?”

The boy nodded eagerly. “I’m... Arrior Tiz. The… girl… with… black hair… is Oblige Agnès. The… other… girl is Lee Edea. And… that’s… well… We call him Ringabel.” At that last bit, his accent noticeably changed, and his friends turned to look at him. “It’s good to meet you, Kirijo-san.” She wanted to ask him why his accent had suddenly changed, and why he was now more comfortable speaking to her. “Sorry, we don’t really speak Japanese.”

“That is fine. Questions can come later.” When the boy didn’t look like he was about to collapse, as it seemed he was the only one that she could communicate with.

“Are you sure?” Akihiko asked.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be taking them with us. But we can’t leave them for the Shadows to prey on. Also, could you please put on a shirt?”

 

* * *

 

Akihiko was not the only one to find a strange stone that night. A girl watching her brother sleep peacefully found one as well, as did a smaller girl singing to herself in bed. An even smaller boy watching the brilliant moon from his window. Others, as well, spread out from the location that the Warriors of Light had entered from.

And a little fairy, garbed in black, carrying two brilliant orange stones, weighed down, yet unable to find a place to hide. An open window would suit her purposes nicely, even if the desk she ended up passed out on was rather near to a coffin. She could resume her search for allies later, when she didn’t risk death by exhaustion.

What she didn’t know, was that the place she rested was a bedroom. And, not eight hours later, the boy resting inside that coffin was going to wake up. Whether that was a good or bad thing, to her or to anyone else, nobody knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiz can speak Japanese, however poorly, thanks to Polaris deciding, on a complete whim, to learn a random language that she just so happened to need later. Unfortunately, while she can hold a decent conversation, she isn't entirely fluent, although there is enough for Tiz to cobble together to get his point across. The moments when he stops are mostly when she tells him what to say, except for the part about Ringabel. They were both at a loss there.  
> Akihiko's Monk outfit is his outfit from Arena, because of how most people react to it. Also, during localization, Mitsuru really did trade her English for French.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night comes to a close, and the morning begins. Anne finds an ally in this new world, and Tiz and Polaris have what passes for a normal conversation with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point, anything in a language that the focal character doesn't understand will be bolded.

“You want Onii-chan to sign this?” Red eyes peered at the paper in front of her. “Why?”

“You already have powers.” The small boy returned her gaze, keeping perfect eye contact. “Get your brother to sign this, and he can survive without being targeted by the Shadows.”

She sighed, ruffling the boy’s hair. “You actually think he’d sign it? I’m sorry, have you met him?”

“No. Kind of stuck with you, Onee-chan.” There wasn’t much noticeable emotion in his tone, but there were hints of a smile. She could never help but smile as well, when it came to her self-proclaimed little brother.

“I’ll see what I can do. If we’re lucky, it’ll be signed before I start high school.”

“Your school year starts next month. It cannot be that difficult.” She nodded. At first, this time had been scary, something to try and sleep through whenever she possibly could. Now, she actively looked forward to it, enjoyed the company she could keep there, especially since her older brother had started to show up.

Not that she’d wake him up in this time. It was far too dangerous for one that didn’t possess the power that she did. The stone she had in her pocket, that she had just deactivated, but could still feel its power, helped her as well, so she assumed. She wouldn’t be leaving that night.

“I suppose that’s true. Good night, Death-chan.”

“Good night, Minako-nee.”

 

* * *

 

Perhaps recognizing the fact that Tiz’s grasp on her language was shaky at best, Mitsuru had simply brought out some spare bedding and had them sleep in the middle of some open space. It was hardly an ideal situation, but it was also not a unique one.

_ (Remember when all four of you had to squish yourselves into Edea’s bed?) _ Polaris asked, reminiscing. He never knew when she’d bring things like that up, but had long learned how to live with it.

His head hurt more than anything. Everything that had happened that day was overwhelming him, compounded by just how much he’d had to rely on Polaris, first for survival, and then to eke out any sort of understanding of this new world.

Sleep. Yes, sleep sounded like a good idea. He could start trying to make sense of the new people, learning a new language, and the strange monk once he could think clearly again.

He buried his face in a pillow, and let the world fade away, this time a bit more peacefully.

_ (Good night, Tiz.) _

_ (Good night, Polaris.) _

* * *

  
  


Daylight. Anne lifted her head from the uncomfortable wood, and took in the world around her. So, the night previous had actually happened, then.

She heard some excited gibbering that she didn’t understand, and turned to face the source of the sound. There was a human boy right in front of her face, and while she didn’t know what he was saying, the tone of voice told her all she needed to hear. He didn’t know what she was.

This was a rather mixed blessing. On one hand, he would be easy enough to manipulate into helping her, once they found a way to communicate with each other. On the other hand, if he decided to ask an adult about her, her cover would be blown immediately. All it took was for one person to let it slip to the wrong acquaintance that this world had a fairy in it, and it would all go downhill from there. The celestial would find out, and everything would fall apart.

If it hadn’t already. And, honestly, Anne was beginning to believe that it had. She had found herself somewhere that most definitely was not Luxendarc, and that was as far out of her comfort zone as it was possible to get.

She wished she were still in Luxendarc. She knew Luxendarc, could navigate it, could speak the language. The last one most important of all. Still, the boy had stopped babbling, and seemed to be taking the time to actually look at her. Somehow, she felt that he would not run off to an adult, if he had not already.

A small start, then, with introductions. “Anne,” she said, gesturing to herself. The boy seemed to understand, nodding.

**“Anne-chan, right? My name’s Yosuke!”** She could hear her name, but little else. She wondered if this world had an equivalent to her own language she could translate from. It would, at least, be a start.

For now, however, she would be content with observing the boy, and figuring out this strange world from there.

 

* * *

 

Tiz was woken up by sunlight. Pulling himself up, he noticed that, at some point during the night, Ringabel had moved to the couch.

_ (Wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t sleep the night through.) _ Polaris gave the mental equivalent of a shrug.  _ (I know that if I’d been through half of the things he has, I’d have gone mad long ago.) _

Tiz tried to imagine an insane celestial, and winced at the thought.  _ (We wouldn’t have stood a chance, would we?) _

_ (Not really. I mean, I probably would have helped you defeat Ouroboros, given that my own world was at risk, but I most likely would have abandoned you as reality collapsed upon you…) _ She cut off a little there, and Tiz couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.

_ (Polaris… what is it?) _

“It’s gone, Tiz,” She whispered aloud, using his voice. “They’re gone. At least the ones we know. And some we don’t. Luxendarcs zero through ten, all gone. I checked. And that’s not even counting the four.” He’d expected her to say many things. Like that she was leaving him to die, as his purpose was fulfilled.

The destruction of his world? That was something he would never have expected. And of course Polaris would have used her considerable power to check for ways back, but the Luxendarc he came from was no longer an option…

_ (We’re not telling the others about this, are we?) _

_ (Why should we? I couldn’t find a way out of this dimension, not at the moment. By the time we could find a way to a Luxendarc… would it even matter which one it was?) _

Tiz shook his head. He didn’t expect a way back, not after everything they’d agreed to. As it was… it was early morning, and soon enough, others would be waking up.

_ (Hey, Polaris, would you mind if you kept translating for us?) _

_ (I’ll do you one better. I’ll start teaching all of you the language, just as soon as everything settles down.) _ Perfect. It wouldn’t replace Luxendarc, not by a long shot, but it was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notable differences from canon include Minako being a year younger than Minato. In addition, her hair is dyed red, being naturally blue, and her eyes are gray outside of the Dark Hour. Turns out that hosting Death can have visible side effects.  
> Also, those Luxendarcs were destroyed because, well, they killed a deity and caused a horrific imbalance in spacetime, and it was only the presence of Polaris that kept them from dying as well. Huge ripples there. They're lucky it didn't wipe out the whole cluster.  
> And Polaris plans on teaching the others Japanese because it means less work for her in the long run. It's still not a perfect solution, she can't teach them to read or anything, but it will work for the time being.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A month passes. The Arisatos are prepared to move to their new school- with some complications. The Warriors of Light have begun to settle in properly, although they probably can't keep it up for long.  
> Also, Yosuke is an Asterisk Bearer now.

“Onii-chan, you need to sign this.” Arisato Minako held out the contract Death had given her to her older brother, hoping that he would take the bait.

“What is it?” Arisato Minato looked over it. “Is it legally binding, or have you been playing games with Naoto-chan again?”

“Just sign it!” She didn’t lose her temper often normally. But she had been kept up all night, because there was just a week to go until they moved into their dorms in Iwatodai, and most of that night had been spent trying to convince herself that she could get her brother to sign an ambiguous contract.

“Okay, fine.” He grumbled a little, but his name still ended up on the sheet. “Please don’t rope me into any more of these games. And don’t let Naoto-chan near your hair dye. Last thing I need is for the wrong person to follow me to high school.” They were still arguing about that?

Besides, he had no room to judge. Whenever they stayed with the Minegishis, he’d always switch places with Kazuya and they’d go to each other’s classes.

That was the entire reason they weren’t spending the next year with the Minegishis. They didn’t need a repeat of the last time. At least when Naoya still lived there, he and Minako could end it before it began.

But now he didn’t, and she would be severely outnumbered. So, Iwatodai it was.

 

* * *

 

The past month had been extremely taxing on the group, for several reasons. The first one was the fact that they all had to learn a new language, and their instructor wasn’t entirely fluent to begin with. This was, of course, after the other three had gotten around the fact that Tiz was basically a zombie. That hadn’t been a fun explanation.

Of course, there was also the headache of explaining to their benefactors their normal living arrangements… or lack thereof. They weren’t going to start a confrontation revolving around the Monk Asterisk just yet. They had also decided to not tell anyone about the other worlds thing for one reason alone.

Nobody had any idea how they would explain Ringabel, and they knew that would be among the first questions asked. The fact that Tiz and Polaris had given him a somewhat substandard introduction really didn’t help.

“Look. You’re an enigma. I had no clue what to say. Tiz didn’t know what to say. Once you have a better grasp of Japanese, you can introduce yourself more properly, but for now, deal with it,” Polaris had replied when pressed.

The fact was, at this moment, they were at the mercy of the Kirijo Group. And none of them liked it one bit.

* * *

  
  


Hanamura Yosuke had no clue what to do with his new friend. Anne wouldn’t come out if there were adults nearby, and spent a lot of time muttering to himself in that language he didn’t know. Still, she was trying to figure out how to communicate with him, and he was beginning to sort of understand a few things.

First of all, she was actually a fairy. He wondered if, given the existence of fairies, this meant that other things his parents had dismissed as mythical actually existed. He certainly hoped so, if only because he wanted to see a dragon. Not fight it, he wasn’t that crazy, but seeing one would be nice.

The second thing was that those two stones she carried seemed to be important to her. She had told him what they were, too.

“ **Asterisks.** ” Was what she had called them, and he had no idea what it meant. Clearly, however, they were something special. And now it seemed she was offering to let him hold them.

**“I don’t know if this will work… but may as well try it.”** She lifted up one of the stones and placed it in his hand. Yosuke ran his finger along the edges, and something happened.

He was now wearing white clothes, for one. A cloak and a hat. The fabric looked rather rough, but was surprisingly soft.

He could also feel some kind of strange power beneath the surface, but he had no clue how to access it. He put the Asterisk down and everything returned to normal.

Anne offered the second one to him, and he wasn’t entirely sure what to think, at first, but then the outfit appeared.

Despite anything he might have said, Yosuke was still a little boy at heart. And ninjas were cool.

 

* * *

 

“Do you have your hair dye?”

“Yes.”

“Your uniform?”

“Yes.”

“Your-”

“Minato-nii, I have had my things packed and ready to go for six hours. Stop holding me up and let’s get to the train.” Minako sighed, wondering if they actually could get moving.

“It’s a shame grandpa and Naoto-chan couldn’t see us off. That case must really be something.”

“You know how busy they can get.” Minako shrugged. “I’m glad we’re not expected to become detectives.”

“You’d never make it your first day without causing a scene.”

“Didn’t you and Kazuya-”

“We need to hurry, Minako, we’ve got a train to catch!” Minato grabbed his bags and ran out the door before Minako could even finish her sentence.

Works every time.

 

* * *

 

It was several hours, and transfers, before they realized something was wrong.

“You brought us on the wrong train… how many times again?” Minako asked. “At this rate it would be easier to stay at Naoya’s for the night and figure out an excuse for missing school tomorrow. We’re at Aoyama Station, so...”

“We aren’t bothering Kazuya’s cousin for a place to stay,” Minato shot her idea down. “Besides, I think I know what to do now.”

“You said that last time. And the time before that. Just let me buy the tickets this time.” She wanted to get settled in before the full moon, or at least put things off by a bit.

She had been the vessel for Death for almost a decade, and she was the saner one. That very thought scared her more than anything else.

She noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Something blue. She knew that hat.

“Minato-nii, don’t look now, but we’re being followed.” She was impressed, though. She figured that, if she had followed them, they would have lost her after the fifth wrong train or so.

“Naoto-chan? What are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this means that Yosuke can use the same skills as his Persona without actually having one... well, once he gets a few spells. Persona 4 is going to be interesting, I'll say that much.  
> And the Arisatos have an extensive family tree. Just about every SMT character with dark blue hair is in there somewhere.  
> The last time Minato and Kazuya switched places was... well... chaos with Minako and Naoya watching disapprovingly. They still have the video, and it is excellent blackmail. The Arisatos haven't been back since. The Minegishi family won't be showing up for a while, however. The Lockdown hasn't happened yet, after all.  
> And welcome to the main cast, Shirogane Naoto.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Arisato family has never been normal. This just keeps becoming even more apparent every time something important happens. And that was before Philemon got even more involved.  
> Shirogane Naoto is not having a very good night.

Shirogane Naoto had not thought this all of the way through. Her grandfather had been busy with a case he said she had no business in, so she had been rather bored. Her decision to take her savings and stalk her cousins might not have been a good one, but she had figured she could just follow them there, take note of the route so she could visit them later, and go back to Inaba.

She most certainly had not expected that she would end up following them on all the wrong trains and run out of money. So, perhaps being discovered was a blessing in disguise.

“Naoto-chan? What are you doing here?” Minato asked.

“...Would you believe me if I said there were a good explanation for this?” She asked hopefully.

“Not really.” She’d kind of figured that. There wasn’t one, after all.

“Let me guess,” Minako sighed. “You decided, for some reason or another, to follow us. Somehow, you managed to track us here to Aoyama despite all of the wrong trains we’ve gotten on. Because of that, I’m willing to bet that you’re out of money.”

“...Yes.” Naoto was sure that, were she willing to put in the effort, Minako would have made a good detective. Not that her not doing so was entirely a bad thing, however. Someone needed to keep Minato in line, after all.

“Okay, taking the fastest route, we have enough for… the three of us to get to Iwatodai. We’ll have to send you back later, unless you don’t mind-”

“Minako, we are not freeloading off of Naoya,” Minato cut her off. “We can still get there after all, and… you know… high school.”

“Fine. But I’m buying the tickets this time.” Naoto realized that once she got back to Inaba, she would be, at the very least, grounded. So perhaps there wasn’t much reason for her to rush at all.

Well, other than wanting to be far out of range the next time Minato decided to do something crazy, anyway, and that was a given.

* * *

  
  


“They’re late,” Mitsuru commented, glancing at the clock. “Very late.”

“I suppose… after eleven is… a bit late,” Tiz mused. “Do you think… they’ll get… caught… in Dark Hour?”

“...I certainly hope not.”

“Even though more allies would be useful?” And his accent had changed again. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to that.

“They’d have to make it here, first.” There was a crash from the kitchen. “And it sounds like your friends are at it again.”

He sighed.  **“One of these days, your friends are going to get us kicked out of here. It isn’t that bad. Yes, it is.”**

* * *

  
  


Naoto glanced around the train station. For being so late at night, it was certainly very busy. It was nearly midnight, but she supposed that was normal for the city. Minako was unusually tense.

“We should get to the dorms as soon as we possibly can, and explain everything later.”

“Are you okay?” Minato asked her.

“No, for several different reasons. Keep close, Naoto-chan, we don’t want to lose you in this crowd.”

And yet, that was still exactly what happened less than a minute later.

“Aniki? Aneki?” Naoto called out quietly. She had taken her eyes off of them for just a few seconds, and they seemed to have been swept away. She noticed something in the corner of her eye. Something blue.

It wasn’t Minato. Rather, it was a small butterfly. But there was something strange about it, some sort of ephemeral glow. It was almost… calling out to her.

She couldn’t stop herself from following it. Somehow, despite the constant movements of the crowd, it was always just within sight, pulling her forward. Eventually, she emerged from the crowd, and that was when the butterfly chose to approach her.

It hovered, for a moment, in front of her face, before flying off again. This time, however, she no longer felt the pressing need to follow. She had, however, been left rather lost.

And then the clock struck midnight, and nothing for Shirogane Naoto was the same ever again.

* * *

  
  


Green. That was her first thought of the new world she had found herself in. Also, there was a lot of blood and the people had turned into coffins. She wondered if her cousins were counted amongst that number, but there was no way to tell for sure. Not without finding them first, and that didn’t seem possible at the moment.

Naoto decided to try retracing her steps, first. The crowd had dragged her away from the station, and as far as she knew, Minato and Minako could still be there. Of course, at this point, she was glad just to be in the right city. Mostly because of Minako, because Minato simply could not read a rail map.

There was a movement, first detected out of the corner of her eye. A blob of some sort, wearing a mask. It noticed her. It attacked. But in that split second, Naoto realized something important. She didn’t want to die.

There was a flash at this realization, and a small figure appeared in front of her. The blob was enveloped in light, before vanishing into a puddle of ooze. The figure turned to her, hovering in front of her face. Somehow, she knew its name.

“Thank you,” She breathed out, “Sukuna-Hikona.” Her Persona- she wasn’t sure how she knew it was called that, but she did- nodded, before taking a perch on her shoulder. With any luck, any monsters like the one that had tried attacking her would think twice when they saw them.

Now, if only she could find some other people unaffected by this phenomenon…

* * *

  
  


“Minato-nii?”

“Yes, Minako?”

“We’ve lost Naoto-chan.”

“I know, Minako. We’ll have to find her tomorrow, and we can ask the people at the dorm for help. I’m too tired for this right now.”

“...You know, if we’d decided to freeload off of Naoya, this wouldn’t have happened, and we would likely be in less trouble when Grandpa finds out.”

“You aren’t helping, Minako.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Arisatos are getting a lot of focus recently because... well... stuff is actually happening with them recently.  
> To the unknowing observer, this is what it looks like when Tiz and Polaris speak out loud. Mitsuru doesn't realize the implications because she doesn't understand a word they say.  
> Philemon's getting a bit bold. Most likely because by the time of P4, the original plot will be derailed immensely. This plan involves the Lockdown and it will be glorious.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke and Naoto find each other wandering the Dark Hour and decide to stick together. Nothing good can come of this.  
> Oh, and Minato and Minako found the dorm they were looking for. That's important, too.

Yosuke hadn’t expected to find anyone outside of their coffins. In fact, this was his first time out in this weird time, and all he knew was that there was supposedly stuff to fight. And there was. He had just killed a blob monster with a dagger Anne had provided him, although he still didn’t know where she’d gotten it from, and something told him he didn’t want to.

Yet, there was another human being, right in front of him, with a small blue being perched on her shoulder. By all means, not something that should have ever happened. But it did.

“Another person here?” The girl asked, sounding just as surprised as he felt.

“Yosuke, **do you think you can trust her?”** Anne asked.  **“Only those with** Asterisks  **should be here, as far as I know. Well, and those serial killers, but they wouldn’t recruit someone even younger than you, right?”** He’d gotten exactly two words out of that, and so decided to ignore it for the time being.

“Yeah. I’m Hanamura Yosuke, and this is Anne. Don’t worry, I don’t understand her, either. What’s your name?” The girl paused before answering.

“I’m Shirogane Naoto, and this is my Persona, Sukuna-Hikona.”

“...What’s a Persona?”

“To be completely honest? I have no idea.”

 

 

Upon the realization of the consequences for losing Naoto- their grandfather being mad at them, Naoto could be killed by Shadows, Naoto could come down with Apathy Syndrome- fully sank in, Minako responded to the situation in the best way she knew. Mainly, by cursing loudly.

In about a dozen languages. She considered it the main perk of having a powerful Shadow such as Death bound to her, having concepts like language barriers become completely meaningless. Minato, long used to Minako spouting what he believed to be nonsense, simply raised an eyebrow.

“I’m almost scared to ask.” She didn’t reply, simply glanced away from him, so that he wouldn’t look her in the eyes.

It was a fact she’d discovered rather quickly, that the Dark Hour turned her eyes red. She hoped he’d never notice, because if he, or anyone else, found out what was sealed inside her… well, there went her plans for a semi-normal life.

“It doesn’t really matter. We should get to the dorms, and quickly.” Minato looked confused, and Minako realized she was still speaking Italian. She immediately translated for him, well used to making this mistake, and he nodded.

“That’s probably a good idea. You do still have the directions, right?”

“I’m not the one who misread a rail map so badly we were literally going in circles despite only spending half an hour total on the Yamanote line.” She decided that she wouldn’t let her older brother live that incident down for a long time.

And she never did.

 

 

It took them the whole Dark Hour to reach their dormitories. Not by any fault of their own, as a strange city was difficult to navigate at the best of times, and in the Dark Hour, even more so. Minako had long accepted this as inevitable, although she hoped that they wouldn’t take so long in the future. It would be better once they knew their way.

Not that it would be easy. Not by any means. Minako had plans for this year, big ones. She also knew she wasn’t the only one, either.

“This is the place, right?” She asked. “Because I wouldn’t put it past you to take us to the wrong side of town entirely.”

“Yes, Minako, I’m sure that the address on the building matches the one on the paper, I checked it several times.” Perhaps they should have waited until Dark Hour was completely over to go inside, but, well, the Arisato family and their relatives were not known for their common sense. So, of course, Minato and Minako decided to walk right on in.

They were immediately met with a sight of total disaster. They had clearly walked in on the middle of an argument, that was visible from the beginning.

“Not another word, Ringabel!” One of the people on the couch- how was she active in Dark Hour?- shoved the other one off of it. Minako didn’t recognize the language she used, although it was close enough to English that someone who spoke one could probably cobble together the other with some difficulty. Not that she needed to.

“Lee-san! Ringabel-san! It is past Dark Hour!” A young woman just a couple of years older than her walked into the room, yelling in Japanese. “It is time for bed!” Minako was unsure of whether or not those two heard her, much less understood, but they seemed to get the gist of it and walked up the stairs.

This was going to be a long year, she could already tell.

 

Naoto still had no idea what she was doing. When the world returned to normal, her head started hurting until she dismissed Sukuna-Hikona, which made her feel vulnerable, the fact that she was now at Yosuke’s apartment notwithstanding. If anything, her location just made some things worse.

“So, what do your parents know about this?” She asked.Yosuke seemed surprised that she even asked.

“Nothing. They don’t know Anne-chan exists, they don’t know I’m a ninja, they don’t know I leave at night. And that’s how it’s going to stay.” Naoto groaned. Of course they didn’t.

“Hanamura-san, how do you think they’re going to react when they wake up and find me here, when I wasn’t here when they went to sleep?” From his facial cues, he clearly had not thought of that part.

“I’m sure that, if you tell them you’re lost, they’ll help you get wherever you’re going.” He didn’t even seem to be convincing himself. Naoto wondered, not for the first time that night, if it might have been better to run away at Aoyama.

Well, it was too late, now.

And thus concludes the most momentous Dark Hour for the whole of the Arisato family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minato's sense of direction is normally not that bad. He just can't read a rail map to save his life.  
> Minako's language gift is something she's actively worked to cultivate. However, she won't let anyone know about it unless she has to, because she understands that letting people know she has Death sealed inside her is a bad idea in general. As a result, there will be communication issues that they really don't need.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naoto's attempt at figuring out what to do next doesn't get off the ground in quite the way she wanted it to, while other people are off doing their own thing.

No matter how long he lived in this new world, Tiz wasn’t sure he’d ever really know how to get around. The fact that he only ever left the dorm in Dark Hour to attempt to teach Akihiko about the Monk Asterisk- the key word being attempt, as Akihiko never listened to a word he said- probably didn’t help matters.

And now, Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Yukari were off at school, as were the new additions to the dorm, Arisato Minato and Minako. So, of course, there wasn’t much to do.

_ (If we had an excuse, we could explore the town… Maybe you could ask Agnès on a date or something?) _ Tiz remembered why he didn’t often ask Polaris for advice.  _ (Look, just because you’re not as dramatic about it as Ringabel does not make it any less obvious. Except to Agnès, apparently, but I’m willing to blame that on her upbringing.) _ Tiz pulled his blankets over his head.

Whatever he ended up doing, he was sure it could wait ten more minutes. Or however long it took him to get over Polaris’ words. Whichever came later.

 

* * *

 

Naoto peered out of Yosuke’s closet. It seemed like Yosuke had already left, likely to school, and promptly forgotten all about her. Which meant she had slept in, but as she had stayed up past midnight, plus however long that green time was, she could live with that.

The little fairy, Anne, was fluttering by the open window.  **“Sure,** Yosuke,  **just leave me here with only a strange girl you picked up on the street for company. Take the Asterisks, why don’t you? Why would you even need to defend yourself? I’ve seen your normal world, it’s boring!”** Naoto didn’t understand a word she said, but she had her doubts that the little creature was entirely sane.

Either that or she had some sort of reason for ranting to herself, and most people generally don’t. Not that she would say anything. She had no idea what Anne could do, and while she could summon Sukuna-Hikona, she sensed it would take more energy than was practical.

She couldn’t believe she was trying to apply practicality to something that had just emerged from her soul without warning the night before, but there she was.

First, leave the apartment without being detected by Yosuke’s parents, second, contact her grandfather, and third, question her sanity. Maybe track down her cousins while she was at it. Perhaps one of them would have some answers for her.

 

* * *

 

 

Minako had no idea why she’d been so excited for high school. Sure, Kazuya would tell her about the friend he made there- Atsuro, that was his name- and her friend Saki had been rather excited, but that didn’t mean anything for her, especially when neither of them were there. And not even Minato or Naoya saying that high school was the best thing in the world could change the reality of what was happening right that moment.

Firstly, they still had no idea where to find Naoto, which colored the whole experience just a bit. She was honestly more concerned about what would happen if they never found out what happened to her. Hopefully, she had just transformed in the Dark Hour and gotten lost.

Hopefully. In her experience, the best-case scenario never happened. At least not to her. Others, maybe. But not to her.

“You know, walking into a place run by Kirijo might not have been the best idea,” Her golden-eyed reflection in the mirror commented. And that, yes.

“I know, okay? You don’t have to tell me that.”

“But that’s the purpose of a Shadow, isn’t it? To remind you of what you already know?” Shadow Minako crossed her arms and leaned back. “Also, we’re already late to school. We should probably get going.” So she did.

 

* * *

 

 

Naoto supposed that things could never be as simple in reality as they seemed in her head. Obtaining access to a phone was simple enough, she just had to wait for the Hanamuras to leave, although she still wasn’t sure how to leave without attracting attention, at least before midnight. And she was not staying up that late just to leave an apartment, for several reasons.

Least of which being that she had nowhere else to go, anyway, and she might get attacked by another blob creature. No, best to stay where she knew she would be safe.

At least they had a phone. So she could get outside help fairly easily. She wished she hadn’t forgotten her cell phone in Inaba, but it was far too late for that, now. So she had to use the apartment phone and hope nobody came back in the time it took to make a quick call. She was already in big trouble, so what did the use of a certain phone really matter?

She missed her detective work. At least with that, everything had to make a sort of sense. She was not ready for people turning into coffins or streets full of blood or the strange phenomenon she somehow knew as Persona.

With some apprehension, she dialled the familiar number, wondering why she had ever thought leaving the estate in the first place had been a good idea. “Hello? Grandpa?”

“Naoto-chan?” Her grandfather’s voice was almost shocked- but not quite, for nothing ever truly seemed to surprise him- and she could tell from his tone that he was most certainly not amused. “I’d heard that you left the estate. Are your cousins there?”

She sighed. “No, we got separated at the station. I’ve… sort of found a place to stay for the moment. I’m not sure exactly where, but it’s in the Iwatodai area, family name Hanamura. I’d go home myself, but I’m out of money.” She didn’t say anything about the time when everything had changed, the monster that had attacked her, or her Persona.

She wasn’t sure how much Japanese the fairy fluttering around the room could understand, or if she’d even have a problem with her disseminating knowledge of her experience, but she wasn’t going to risk it. There were still too many variables. Least of which being that she had no desire to be thought of as insane.

There was a sigh from the other side of the phone. “Naoto-chan, what am I going to do with you? While I could look into where you’re staying, my workload doesn’t leave that much time. Will you be safe there until summer?”

Naoto considered it. Between her own intellect and Yosuke’s knowledge of his parents, possibly securing more permanent arrangements wasn’t entirely unthinkable. If it came down to it, there was always the possibility of honesty.

“I believe I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naoto and Minako seem to be taking over the story for the moment. This is mainly because the extended Arisato family is a bunch of weirdness magnets, as the rest of them can testify.  
> Differences in circumstances bring logical conclusions. Minato and Minako did, in fact, have friends in Inaba. Well, Minako did. Minato's only friend before Gekkoukan was Yuzu.  
> Also, a lot of Minako's eccentricities can probably best be explained by the fact that she has Naoya as a role model.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things the Warriors of Light can do: Kill a deity. Save the world. Hop between dimensions. Juggle the learning of several different Asterisks at the same time.  
> Things the Warriors of Light cannot do: Simple search missions. Basic directions. Common sense. Navigate interpersonal relationships.

_ (And that is a train station. Trains, as you can see, are very similar to Promethean Fire in design. Beings in worlds of this technology level can use them to travel great distances on land.) _ Tiz got the feeling that Polaris was enjoying her new role of ‘modern technology tour guide’ just a little bit too much.

Unfortunately, while he was able to ignore anything she did to annoy him in Luxendarc short of straight-out possession- which didn’t happen that often, at least until she was needed as a translator- simply by talking with someone else, he couldn’t do that anymore. It was true that he was learning Japanese relatively quickly, but he wasn’t really conversation level yet.

_ (So what did Minako say her cousin looked like, again?) _ He asked, reminding her of the ‘mission’ that the redhead had given them over the dormitory phone, apparently during her lunch break.

_ (Blue hair, blue eyes, blue hat… just look for a blob of blue or something.) _ That wasn’t necessarily helpful.

But the train station didn’t have an overly large amount of blue that he could see, so it didn’t matter, anyway.

* * *

  
  


Agnés had long ago come to terms with her terrible sense of direction. At least, that was what she would say, although others would argue against it, saying that nobody who understood that they had a sense of direction as utterly nonexistent as hers would ever go off on their own.

She thought they were exaggerating.

Of course, given that she currently had no clue where she was, they might have had a point. She’d just been planning to go around the block for some fresh air, and some time away from Edea and Ringabel being Edea and Ringabel. Or rather, she’d left as soon as Edea had stated her desire to make lunch.

Agnés was almost certain that, if he’d not left fifteen minutes before, Tiz would have done the exact same thing. Ringabel had certainly tried. Try being the operative word there. She had no clue when Edea had taken the time to learn Time Magic, but it had definitely worked.

Okay, so maybe being lost wasn’t such a bad thing at the moment. But she’d have to find her way back eventually. And she’d been forced to leave the Time Mage Asterisk behind, so she couldn’t just teleport back.

Probably for the best. The chances of her making it back before dinner were low to begin with. Add in teleportation, and they’d likely never see her again.

She’d like to say it was an exaggeration. But she did have some idea of how terrible her sense of direction was. She just needed to admit it to herself.

* * *

  
  


Once, many, many years ago, Alternis Dim had possessed a sweet tooth. That was a long time ago, before he met Edea Lee. Before a young Edea had used him as a test subject for her first attempt at cooking, which was enough to make him swear off most forms of sugar for the rest of his life.

Braev had, of course, subsequently banned her from the kitchen. But Braev, who was really the only person who was stubborn enough to enforce the ban, wasn’t there, and Edea wanted to cook. She’d even taught herself Time Magic in order to get someone else to eat with her.

Ringabel wondered what he had done to deserve this. He didn’t dare ask her the question, of course. She’d have a list of offenses, both real and imagined, stretching back to childhood if she was especially mad at him, inevitably ending with the fact that he didn’t like the obscene amounts of sugar she put into everything.

If it weren’t for the spell that had literally prevented him from running, he would have done so, and faced her wrath later. Agnés had managed it, although Edea never seemed get as upset with the vestal as she did with him.

Needless to say, the people of this world who they were living with were quite confused. And everyone from Luxendarc was content to keep it that way. After all, it was that or go into detailed explanations, some of which they weren’t sure how to vocalize in their own language, let alone putting it through multiple translations.

Ringabel knew that they were most likely Polaris’ third language. The definitely weren’t her first, she did have trouble with some words, and she wasn’t entirely fluent in Japanese, either. And it would probably be hard for her to learn a new language while she was tied to Tiz.

So they wouldn’t burden her, and by extension, Tiz, with trying to explain things further.

“Lunch is served!” And thus his doom was spelled out.

Once upon a time, Alternis Dim had possessed a sweet tooth. Now, Ringabel was trying not to choke on what had to be all of the sugar in the building, and recalling why, exactly, he had sworn off the stuff.

* * *

  
  


Edea wasn’t quite sure how to classify the day she’d had. The morning had been fine, she could just sit around and watch the television- not particularly interesting, but there really wasn’t anything else for her to do- but things had started to change at around noon.

She still didn’t know why Tiz had left like that. He- or rather Polaris, judging by the fact that his side of the conversation was unbroken- had spoken into a machine that she couldn’t recall the name of, and just walked out the door.

They didn’t worry, as he was best suited to not drawing attention. He could speak the language, at least, and was nondescript enough to be overlooked. And he had an actual sense of direction.

Agnés was a bit more concerning, but she did manage to find her way back some time after dinner, which was not actually the worst such incident. Edea still remembered that one time in Eternia that they couldn’t find her for a week. When they found her, she was halfway to Gathelatio.

One would think she would have had the presence of mind to turn around once she realized that there was not a forest en route to Central Command. One would be wrong.

While Agnés managed to get away, Ringabel hadn’t due to Edea’s new grasp of Time Magic although she knew very well that he could have escaped if he’d just kept trying. Which was really the main problem she had with it. She didn’t need pity.

And, honestly, if anyone had to take pity on her, she’d rather it wasn’t Ringabel. He just never failed to get under her skin and she never managed to come up with a proper answer as to why.

Well, aside from him being Ringabel, anyway, which wasn’t a reason anyone would actually listen to. She didn’t understand why nobody else seemed as flustered by his antics as she was- at least, not with an answer she would actually accept.

Even if others would claim that having his picture in a heart-shaped locket was a clear sign of affection. She claimed trauma from the incident in Florem. Or, she would, if anyone managed to get the locket away from her long enough to check.

She glared at the picture in question, before shutting the completely effective Rebuff Locket and trying to banish all such thoughts from her mind.

The alarm to announce the arrival of Shadows at the dorms probably helped with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a very long day for all of them. And it's about to get worse.  
> Also, both pairs have their own issues. The problem with Tiznes is that they are both hopelessly oblivious. The problem with Rindea is that Edea's hopelessly in denial.  
> Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Yukari have started a betting pool. Well, okay, Polaris knows. She just thinks it's hilarious.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That one night when Minako forgot the full moon. It does not end well.

Minato had no clue what was going on. The extra hour had been difficult to adjust to at first, but Minako seemed unfazed, and he couldn’t let his little sister outdo him at something like that. In fact, he was sort of used to odd things happening, simply because his sister just couldn’t be normal at anything.

Yet, for all his adjustment to the fact that Minako would always do things he didn’t understand, something odd happening that didn’t seem to revolve around her was something he wasn’t prepared for.

Still, she wasn’t panicking or freaking out. Which meant that he couldn’t, either, because he was a full year older than her and had to be the mature one.

In no way was it a good idea. But it meant he was more composed than Yukari, and he could see that things were going fairly well. Or, as well as they could be when almost everyone was sent outside to fight something, leaving them alone with a huge mass of hands passing a mask around. They still had that odd Edea girl, who was attacking with- was that a katana? Was that katana on fire?- so he figured worrying wouldn’t fix anything anyway.

Clearly Yukari didn’t agree, however, as she’d dropped her… well, it looked like a gun. But it didn’t feel like a gun. Actually, something was telling him to pick it up and- shoot himself? Really? Sure, there didn’t seem to be a place to store bullets, but that was besides the point.

Perhaps he had gone insane. But if that was the case, he was in good company, as his sister had likely gone crazy a long time ago.

“Persona.” A sound like shattering glass, a blue light, and the world as Arisato Minato knew it flipped upside-down.

* * *

  
  


Minako was furious with herself. She had forgotten the full moon. The most important time of the month. The day when the Arcana Magician came out to play. On the plus side, her brother had awakened his Persona.

On the minus side, they were currently standing on a roof with no way out because all of their backup was fighting the waves of other Shadows that the Magician had summoned. And while she didn’t mind using her powers in important situations, they were exhausting. The only reason she could even summon at will was because of what Naoya had taught her, and that didn’t cover summoning things immensely more powerful than yourself.

Her hand reached into her pocket, and brushed the odd stone inside. She hadn’t activated it a lot, but when she did, things came to her a lot more easily. Which meant she could probably use her Persona without being knocked out immediately afterwards, though she’d likely still want to sleep soon after.

But then, it was Dark Hour. A little extra tiredness didn’t really matter, did it? And if it wasn’t enough, she could still hit the Arcana Magician with a train. She didn’t know why she could summon a train with the stone active, it just happened.

Sighing, she activated the stone, allowing her clothes to change. It wasn’t a bad design, but it was a bit… frilly and sparkly for her tastes. She was the vessel of Death, Persona User, and dabbling demon tamer. She did not do sequins.

But power came more easily to her now. Even if it was just drawing something deep within to the surface. Something she’d have to do because Edea had been knocked down due to the shock making her hesitate at the wrong moment, and Minato was a rookie, and Yukari didn’t seem to have the nerve for summoning.

Not that Minako could blame her. She knew there were many different methods of summoning a Persona, but this one was more than a little unsettling. She’d stick to what she had.

“Thanatos!” So what she had was Death’s true form imprinted so deeply on her soul that it became her Persona. She’d barely been more than a toddler at the sealing, there were side effects.

And, honestly, as long as it ripped apart the Shadow that was attacking her big brother, she didn’t care what it was. Just so long as she was able to do what she had to.

* * *

  
  


All in all, the night could have ended a lot better. As it was, the Arisatos were both unconscious, everyone else but Yukari and Mitsuru required at least basic medical attention, and Yukari probably needed a therapist.

Honestly, for fighting Shadows, Mitsuru thought they’d come out pretty well. It was the first time they’d even seen Ringabel fight, and they weren’t sure how he’d come out of it without a scratch given how many hits he’d taken, but it was impressive, to say the least. She could honestly say she felt secure in her decision to offer the odd quartet sanctuary.

Not that she hadn’t been before. Tiz’s apparent knowledge of the rock that Akihiko kept carrying around everywhere was essential. If her friend had to go around without a shirt everywhere, it at least had to accomplish something.

And it would be an impressive accomplishment, if Tiz’s use of a similar stone had been any indication. Mitsuru felt that it was. Though, with lots of extreme power showing itself around her, she needed to up her game.

And she knew just how to do it, too. Back when Shadows had been studied in a controlled environment, some of them had displayed levels of power beyond anything recorded before. Said Shadows had promptly been… disposed of, due to the threat that their powers presented but their magic had always had its own name.

The ice spell was called Niflheim. And even if she was nowhere near strong enough to use it yet, she knew she wanted it.

“Assuming you ever get to the field again,” Her reflection in the turned-off computer monitor pointed out. “After all, nobody else has the same skills we do. They need us here.”

She paid it no attention. After all, according to Ikutsuki, it was only a hallucination meant to destroy her control, like Shinjiro’s had been. And he’d been part of Shadow and Persona studies for as long as she could remember, so clearly he knew best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minako has been very good at keeping her brother out of the loop before. That's not exactly going to work anymore, what with the whole Wild Card thing.  
> I'll be entirely honest- very few of the job outfits are things I would actually enjoy wearing, or even practical. Maybe the Spiritmaster outfit... that'd be nice. But not much out. Minako, however, mainly minds the presence of sequins.  
> So, if we equate P3s Ultimate Personas to P4s basic Personas... we get this particular case of sabotage. The incident with Shinjiro and Ken's mother can basically be described as such: Do not deny your Shadow right before summoning your Persona, you utter moron. (Minako's situation means she basically has an Ultimate Persona by any standards- a Shadow she accepts and power beyond all belief. One may argue that being the vessel of Death is cheating, however.)


End file.
